Broadly to wearing apparel and more particularly to footwear of the type known as a sandal or slipper



Sept. 26, 1961" A B. FARLEY 3,001,302 BROADLY TO WEARING APPAREL AND MORE PARTICULARLY T0 FOOTWEAR OF THE TYPE KNOWN AS A SANDAL OR SLIPPER A Filed Sept. 23, 1959 A INVENTOR. A/LEE/V 5. FARLEY ATTORNEYS United States Patent ce 0 BROADLY TO ABPAREL AND MORE PARTICULAR-LY TOFOGTWEAiR OF" THE TYPE KNOWN-AS A SANpALQR-SL BBER H Aileen Benay Farley, 1825 19th St Yero BeaclnF-la'.

FiledSep't. 23, 19s9,'ser. Ne;s41,s50J

S'Cktims. (Cl.36 -1 1'.

This invention relates broadly to wearing apparel and, more particularly, to footwear of the type known as a sandal or slipper.

It has been the principal object of this invention to provide such an article of footwear which has new and improved means for holding it on the foot of a wearer, which means provide greater security and firmness with increased comfort to the wearer, than known devices for holding a sandal or slipper on the foot.

The invention is described in the following specification and is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a sandal accordingd to my invention in position on the foot of the wearer, an

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the sandal itself.

The article of footwear provided by my invention comprises a sole portion 2 which is preferably of uniform thickness throughout and which is of such a size and shape that it underlies the entire foot of the wearer, as shown in the drawings. An elastic strap 4 is attached at spaced points throughout its length to the opposite side edges 6, 8 of the sole in such a way that a part of the strap zig-zags over the upper surface of that part of the sole which is forward of the heel part thereof. Thus, as illustrated, one end of the strap is connected at 10 to the inside edge 6 of the sole adjacent the toe end of the sole and, from this point of attachment, a part 12 of the strap extends transversely across the upper surface of the sole and is attached at 14 to the outside edge 8 of the sole adjacent the toe end thereof but preferably somewhat more removed from the toe end than the original point of attachment 12. From this point of attachment 14 a part 16 of the strap extends across the upper surface of the sole and diagonally rearwardly thereof to a point of attachment at 18 to the inside edge 6 of the sole, from which a part 20 of the strap extends across the upper surface of the sole and diagonally rearwardly thereof to a point of attachment at 22 to the outside side edge 8 of the sole. This point of attachment 22 is located at approximately the instep part 24 of the sole, although at the outside edge of the sole. From this point of attachment 24 a part 26 of the strap extends across the upper surface of the sole and diagonally forwardly thereof in general parallelism to the part 20 of the strap, and this last part 26, being the end part of the strap, is connected at its end to the inside edge 6 of the sole at 28. Each of the parts 12, 16, 20 and 26 of the strap is of such a length that it forms a loop above the upper surface of the sole of suflicient size, considering the elasticity of the strap, to accommodate the part of the foot which it is intended to engage.

In a preferred form which the invention may take the strap is attached to the side edges of the sole in such positions that each of the strap loops which engage the foot of the wearer is positioned in a certain manner with respect to certain parts of the foot in order to produce certain important results and certain important advantages over known footwear. Thus, as disclosed in the drawings forming part of this specification, the ends of the first, or forward, loop part 12 are attached to the side edges of the sole at points 10, 14 which are so positioned that the rear edge of the loop 12, which extends angularly rearwardly, is positioned at or adjacent the first toe jointsso that the-loop 'wil l net i ntertere with tree pending *of 'thefoot at those-joints, while't'hestrap-forming the loop lzextends forwardly from such jo'intsand covers tlie middle joints of the toes, which are often unsightlys At the same time, -t-he='loo'p, by covering "and resiliently holding'the toes forwardly ofv their first joints, keeps the. toes in a straight line withdu't binding. The loop r6, which extends a iigular ly rearwardly from: connection point Patented Sept. 26, rear 14 to connection point 18, is so positioned that it rides smoothly on the lower, or forward, part of the arch. The connection point 18 is positioned about one and onehalf inches to the rear of the middle of the inside ball of the foot and approximately at the instep position. The loop 20 extends angularly rearwardly from connection point 18 across the upper, or rear, part of the arch of the foot. Because of the position of connection point 18 and its relation to the two loops 16, .20 the sole 2 tends to conform to the shape of the arch, giving a more graceful foot line and increased comfort. From connection point 22 the loop 26 extends generally angularly forwardly to connection point 28 and the loop therefore lies flat against the back of the heel. The connection point 28 is sufiiciently far forward, being approximately at the middle of the foot of the arch, that the loop 26 will not ride down on the heel in case the back of the heel is more fiat than usual.

When the sandal or slipper is put onto the foot, that part of the foot including and forward of the instep is slipped into the three loops formed by the forward parts 12, 16 and 20 of the strap, while the loop formed by the rear part 26 of the strap is put around the back of the foot and across the heel or Achilles tendon. The parts 12, 16 and 20 of the strap will therefore be made to form progressively larger loops from the toe end of the sandal rearwardly, to better and more comfortably accommodate the progressively increasing size of the foot from the toes rearwardly to'the instep. The strap 4 is preferably made of substantial width, for example of the order of one inch, in order to make it more comfortable to the foot and reduce or remove any tendency of the strap to bind the foot or cut ofi circulation of the blood.

If desired, the strap 4 may be continuous from end to end or may be made in short lengths. Further, one or more of the loops may be omitted, or more loops may be added.

It will be understood that the sandal andstrap construction described in this specification is illustrative of the invention and that modifications thereof may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, for the limits of which reference must be made to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A sandal comprising a sole portion of such size and shape that it underlies substantially the entire foot of the wearer, and a single elastic strap having the ends thereof connected to the sole portion and being connected at spaced points throughout its length alternately to opposite side edges of the sole at points spaced progressively rearwardly of the sole to provide a series of elastic loops above the upper surface of the sole, the strap being disposed above the upper surface of the sole portion throughout its length.

2. A sandal comprising a sole portion of such size and shape that it underlies substantially the entire foot of the wearer, and a single elastic strap having the ends thereof connected to the sole portion and being connected at spaced points throughout its length alternately to opposite side edges of the sole at points spaced progressively rearwardly of the sole to provide a series of elastic loops above the upper surface of the sole, said loops being of progressively increasing size from the toe end of the sanv e,oo1,so2 g dal rearwardly, the strap being disposed above the upper surface of the sole portion throughout its length.

3. A sandal comprising a sole portion of such size and shape that it underlies substantially the entire foot of the wearer and a single elasticstrap connected at its one end to a side edge of the sole adjacent the toe end thereof and connected at spaced points .throughoutyits length alternately to opposite side edges of the sole at points spaced progressively rearwardly of the sole to provide a zig-zag series of loops above the upper surface of the sole, and connected at its other end to the side edge of the sole opposite to the side to which the most rearward end of 4 the last of the zig-zag loops is connected and forwardly of the connection of the most rearward end of the last of the zig-zag loops, the strap being disposed above the upper surface of the sole portion throughout its length.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Bender Sept. 6, 1959 

